Katherine Gonzalez, MD specializes in pediatric surgery, and has additional interest in surgical care for critical newborn and trauma patients. Her professional goals include expanding regional access to care, fostering multidisciplinary/interprofessional education, and promoting high-quality outcomes research to better serve the pediatric surgical needs of our region.

Dr. Gonzalez received a bachelor's degree in biology and medical humanities from Baylor University, where she also competed on the water polo team. She earned her medical degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine and subsequently completed her general surgical residency at the Texas A&M/Scott and White Memorial Hospital program, a highly specialized referral center focused on treating a diverse spectrum of surgical disease in children, adults and veterans from a broad geographical region. 

During a two-year dedicated research fellowship at Children’s Mercy Hospital, Dr. Gonzalez performed robust prospective and retrospective clinical research. These efforts resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications in key areas of surgical care including postoperative pain management, appropriate imaging utilization, improvement of quality metrics such as wound classification, and improvement of neonatal outcomes. While in Kansas City, she also completed a surgical critical care fellowship in bowel rehabilitation, neonatal surgical management and trauma care. Next, Dr. Gonzalez completed a fellowship in pediatric surgery at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital where she received extensive training in congenital diaphragmatic hernia management and minimally invasive resection of benign and malignant tumors, as well as broad exposure to general surgical techniques for children of all ages. 

Sarah Hirsch, MD specializes in a broad range of neonatal and pediatric general surgery, and has extensive experience with complex laparoscopic and thorascopic procedures. She enjoys the broad range of minimally-invasive surgery, including complex foregut surgery, hernias, biliary surgery, and intestinal procedures for neonatal and pediatric patients. She also has special interest in prenatal consultation for thoracic and abdominal anomalies. 

Dr. Hirsch feels fortunate to care for patients from all over Idaho, as well as surrounding states. She is also passionate about helping St. Luke's Children's Hospital become recognized as a nationally-accredited children's hospital.

Dr. Hirsch earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at Purdue University. After medical school and her general surgery residency, she participated in an NIH research fellowship in genetics at Indiana University and completed her fellowship training in pediatric surgery at Riley Hospital for Children.

Outside of work, Dr. Hirsch enjoys biking, yoga, tennis, and spending time outdoors with her husband and two daughters.

David A. Klima, MD is a pediatric surgeon who performs a wide range of surgeries involving the chest, abdomen, skin, and soft tissues. He has extensive experience with chest wall deformities (including pectus excavatum and the Nuss procedure), lung and colorectal surgery, as well as esophageal, gastric, hepatobiliary, hernia and cancer surgery. Dr. Klima has particular interest in applying minimally invasive techniques with newborns, as well as with children and adolescents through single incision laparoscopic surgery. He currently serves as medical director for pediatric surgery at St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital. 

Dr. Klima completed his bachelor's degree in biochemistry with a minor in psychology at the University of Kansas, where he also attended medical school. During this time, he was elected president of the Alpha Omega Alpha Society, named Doctor’s Doctor by his classmates, and awarded the Gold Humanism Award. Next, he trained at Carolinas Medical Center, learning from some of the world's leaders in laparoscopy and hernia repair, and completing a research fellowship in minimally invasive surgery. Dr. Klima won numerous awards for his research throughout the United States and Europe. He also received the Surgical Professionalism Award four times, was named Resident Teacher of the Year, and is still the only surgery resident to be named Intern of the Year at Carolinas Medical Center. His subsequent fellowship at Children’s of Alabama focused on advanced techniques in minimally invasive surgery for newborns and single incision laparoscopic surgery.

Since his arrival in Boise, Dr. Klima has helped lead quality improvement initiatives, working to standardize pediatric surgical care at St. Luke’s while advancing the quality of care throughout Idaho. He is the current co-chair of the blood community of practice for St. Luke’s and the co-founder and director of the lymphovascular malformation group, bringing specialized care to these complex pediatric patients. Dr. Klima also travels regularly to Twin Falls and sees patients virtually in McCall to serve the local population. 

Morgan Richards, MD, MPH is a pediatric surgeon with a broad range of interests including neonatal congenital anomalies, pediatric oncology, hepatobiliary problems, and congenital lung anomalies. She also manages general pediatric disorders such as hernias, appendicitis, pyloric stenosis, feeding disorders, and gallbladder problems.

Dr. Richards is the medical director of pediatric trauma at St. Luke’s, which has the only level II pediatric trauma center in Idaho. She has also acted as the pediatric surgeon champion for the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) and has a strong interest in quality improvement in pediatric care. She serves on many national committees including the Surgical Quality and Safety, Nominating, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committees of the American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA).

Dr. Richards earned her bachelor’s degree in history of science and medicine from Yale University, where she graduated with honors and played varsity basketball. She attended Case Western Reserve University for medical school where she was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society. Dr. Richards completed her residency at the University of Washington where she devoted three additional years to research at Seattle Children’s Hospital and obtained a master’s degree of public health in epidemiology at the University of Washington. Her research included surgical oncology, examining adult tumors in children using the National Cancer Data Base, and the standardization of care for medically complex children. This work led to numerous publications and presentations. 

Dr. Richards completed her pediatric surgical training at Emory University, which is internationally known for its innovative approach to advanced minimally invasive surgery in children. She trained with world experts in neonatal minimally invasive surgical techniques that included thoracoscopic congenital diaphragmatic hernia repair, tracheoesophageal fistula ligation and esophageal atresia repair, and laparoscopic duodenal atresia repair. She also gained experience with minimally invasive treatment of Hirschsprung disease and anorectal malformations. 

In her free time, Dr. Richards enjoys cooking, cycling, watching movies and exploring the outdoors with her family.

James Saltsman, MD, MPH specializes in pediatric surgery with special interests in pediatric cancer and public health. In addition to providing excellent care to his patients, Dr. Saltsman’s professional goals include improving the quality of care for surgical patients through multidisciplinary collaborative quality improvement projects, promoting research to improve outcomes for children with cancer, and improving access to high quality pediatric surgical care in rural areas. 

Dr. Saltsman received a bachelor’s degree in health and social science from the University of Michigan, where he was involved in cancer research and was active in several musical groups including the University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble. He then went on to work on the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) project, and then on to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where he completed a master’s degree in public health. During his master’s studies, Dr. Saltsman realized he wanted to be a physician and after a short stint as a special assistant in the Baltimore City Health Department he attended Tufts University School of Medicine, where he graduated as a member of the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha honor society.

After medical school Dr. Saltsman completed his general surgery residency training in New York City at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  During this time, he also completed a two-year research fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Rockefeller University where he was engaged in clinical and laboratory research into pediatric cancer.

In addition to publications and presentations at national and international conferences, Dr. Saltsman’s work was awarded the Rosenkrantz Award for Clinical Research by the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Surgery.

In his spare time, Dr. Saltsman enjoys cooking, cycling, and adventures with his wife and children.